Life Happens
by frogflute2
Summary: Jake and Hamilton deal with what life sends their way.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own any Young Americans. I wish I did because it would not have been cut like it was. **

**A/N: This is my first Young American FanFic so I hope you like. The whole story is kind of set in Hamilton's mind. If you want to check out the show go to YouTube. Thanks I hope you like it. **

**Thank you White Lily Blossom for beta reading for me. I don't know what I would do with out your help. **

**Life Happens**

"That was your last chance. I told you, if you didn't put that camera down and spend the evening with me, I am out of here." The angry blonde was standing in the doorway to Hamilton's apartment, staring at her soon to be ex who was sitting on his couch watching TV. He didn't even spare her a glance, which just pissed her off more "so what did you do? You went and spent the whole day out, shooting pictures."

Amber picked up her bags that were lying by the door; she could not believe that she had put up with this for so long. She was a model with a body who anyone would kill to have in their bed, so why was she with this loser who didn't even want to sleep with her? She could not even remember the reason, and it was only two months ago that they had met, but one thing was sure; she was out of here and she was not going to look back.

"Ham, I hope one day you will find someone that will put up with you obsession with photography, but until that day, see ya!" With all of her stuff held in her hands she walked out the door. "I can't believe I let my self get caught up in those blue eyes," with that, she was gone. Ham looked up just as his door closed and waved goodbye.

Ok, so you're probably wondering why I am just sitting here watching TV while an extremely hot woman is breaking up with me and walking out of my life? Well, to explain that I will have to start from the beginning. I guess the place to start would be my introduction.

My name is Hamilton Fleming. I am 25 years old and I have my dream job. I work for National Geographic's. I work as a photographer, most of the time for National Geographic's as a traveling photographer. I have been all over the world. Sometimes though, when there's no work, I do photo-shoots for different designers.

That's how I met Amber, she's a model and she was a lot of fun while it lasted but now she's gone, and I'm not even sad. Why, you ask? Well, to explain that I would have to tell you the story of my life.

Growing up I was a lonely kid. Being an only child meant that I didn't have brothers and sisters to fight with for my parents' attention; no, instead I had a whole school of other people's children to compete with. My Dad was, and still is, the dean of Rawley Academy, an elite private high school. My Mom is an art teacher there as well, so I didn't get to see my parents much. My mom thought that it was be better to home school me, rather than send me to the local school because she was worried that I would not fit in, like being home schooled helps with fitting in or anything but, she was tried her best.

When I was not working on homework, which was a lot of time, I was walking around the Rawley Academy grounds, taking pictures. Photography became my way for escaping reality for a while. I could do anything and go anywhere during the day, as long as I took my camera, and my parents could careless. I spent a lot of time taking pictures of the woods around the school or hanging out with my dogs by the lake. I loved that lake; still do. There is just something about being around and on water that puts me at peace.

With no real friends and a los of free time, I decided that I would start working out. So at the age of ten I would go for a run every morning, and then go to the gym at the Academy boys to work out for about an hour before the entire student body started to wake up and go to class. It became a way for me to deal with my loneliness.

When I was 15 I was finally old enough to start at the Academy. I was so excited that I told my parents I wanted to start with summer session. They couldn't believe that I actually wanted to go to school during the summer, mainly because I wasn't the biggest fan of school. I was so excited to finally be able to start the Academy because I would no longer be on the outside, looking in.

I can still remember what it felt like on move-in day. Okay so I was not actually moving in to the dorms because I lived five hundred yards from the dorms and my parents were not ready to let me move out, but I spent the whole day hanging out in the dorms and meeting the new students. I took my camera with me because there was a great view of the Rawley Academy for Girls, out sister school across the lake.

While I was taking pictures I noticed a guy drive up on motorcycle, which students were not allowed to have. The minute that I got a look at the rider I knew there was something different about him. _I took some pictures_ _of the guy on the motorcycle._. I also met Will and Scout, two boys by age, who were going to be roommates. We started talking and getting to know each other, when we heard yelling and Scout looked out the window to see what it was all about. (They look out the window to everyone striping down to their underwear to go for a swim.)

Every year, tradition has it that the girls from the Academy strip down to their underwear and run across the boys' lawn. The boys then go join them for a dip in the lake. I had watched this tradition every year growing up and now I was finally able to join them. Scout, Will and I took off running. There was no way they were going to miss this chance to met the girls, either.

On the way out the room something caught my eye. I stopped running in order to see what it was. When I turned around I saw the same guy that I had seen with the motorcycle, walking towards me. He was rolling his eyes at all the crazy people running into the lake with only underwear on. I decided that I would have to find out more about him later, but now I had a lake to go swim in.

Classes started the next day. The only thing I didn't like about school are the classes. Oh and the studying. After going for my swim the day before I ended up talking to Will and Scout some more. We found out that we took a lot of the same classes and were going to try out for crew together. I was finally making some friends.

Crew practice was at eight AM. Yikes, but thanks to my work outs I was kind of used to it. Every person interested in joining the crew team was supposed to meet at the docks, so after my morning run I headed down to join them.

Everyone was standing around at the docks not knowing exactly what to do. One guy, who looked totally out of place, (The guy was standing in full sweats and ball cap). It was a warm summer morning so it seemed weird that he would need so many levers, but then, who was I to judge? I was headed in the direction of Scout and Will when I saw the weird guy's face. It was the guy with the motorcycle.

I went over and started talking to him about his motorcycle. We ended up talking the whole time we were waiting for Finn, the couch, to show up. His name was Jake Pratt. He was nice and a lot of fun to talk with.

At the end of practice Finn decided that we had worked hard enough and needed a swim. Everyone started pulling off their shirts and jumping in, all except Jake who jumped in fully clothed. Weird, I know, but as I've said before, who I am to judge?

As the days went by Jake and I started becoming close friends. He was really good with computers and video games. We would spend hours playing games and just hanging out. One day he was going to show me this cool website where the newest games were posted before they were released to the public, but the problem was that the school's network was too slow, so we weren't able to do much other than open the website. Jake was talking about how it would be nice if we could link in to the mainline off a satellite so we could get a better speed. With me being the dean's son I knew where everything was, so up to the roof we went.

_Jake and I ere on the roof talking about the different between guys and girls_. We were laughing, joking and just having a great time when out of nowhere Jake leaned over and kissed me. I'm not sure if I was more upset that Jake kissed me or that I liked it. I found myself leaning into the kiss. It last but a second but I liked it. Jake walked away saying he was sorry and kind of laughing. I was so shocked that I didn't know what to do. Part of me wanted to find him and punch him, but then another part of me wanted to find him to kiss him again.

After a few uneasy days I decided that no matter how much I had been thinking about that kiss, I needed to talk Jake. I wasn't gay, but it was cool if he was. I just wanted to be friends. When we talked about what had happened we ended up deciding that we should just forget about the whole thing.

I don't know about you, but when I'm kissed by someone it's not something that I can easily just forget about and move on with life. But in this case, man, I was trying. I really liked Jake as a friend and because I never really had a friend before I decided that I had to find away to get past that kiss.

We became really good friends, hanging out and spending lots of time together. Jake and I would hang out after classes talking and laughing, just having a good time. I kept thinking that kiss had not changed things between us… Who was am I kidding? That kiss was the only thing that I could think about. It was the best kiss that I had ever had. I had dated a few girls growing up but none of them had ever kissed that well. I kept telling myself that I was not gay and I just needed to forget about it, but I found that I was dreaming more and more about Jake and that kiss.

One day, my mom asked me to show a girl who was visiting the Academy back to the girls' campus. She was hot so I figured this was my chance to get Jake off my mind. Lena and I talked while we walked back to girl campus, when Jake pops up. I asked Lena to go to the newly reopened drive-in with me, but then Jake showed up and she decided to ask him to join us. Lena was saying something about Jake looking like her ex or something; I wasn't really paying attention. Jake had that effect on me sometimes. I couldn't think about anything other than him and that kiss when he was around.

At the movies Lena spent the whole night staring at Jake. I guess I can't blame her; I found myself staring at Jake more and more as well. What really pissed me off, though, was when Jake went to get some candy, Lena asked me to help hook them up. How was I supposed to do that when I couldn't stand the idea of Jake with anyone but me?

The rest of the night was hell. Lena got pissed at me for refusing to help and moved to the far seat which put Jake in middle. With Jake so close I wasn't able to think about anything but the fact that I wanted to kiss him again.

After that night I decided to step back and just let Jake have Lena. I didn't like the idea but what could I do? If I acted on my feelings for Jake the whole school would think that I was gay. _I talked to Jake about Lena, when Jake starts talking about you can't help who you click with_. When he started talking about how it was just a chemistry thing and you just couldn't help who you were attracted to, all I could think of was my feelings for him.

Later, when I was heading to Jake's room, I was met with a hallway filled with cheering guys. When I asked what was going on, they told me that Jake had Lena in his room. I hated my life at that moment . The only thing I could do was give him a high five and get away from there.

During the next few days I found myself daydreaming about Jake more and more. Then one day Finn asked Jake if he had had a crush lately. Jake, being Jake, just said maybe. What got me was when Finn asked him what song made him feel he name a very girly song. 'I Try' by Macy Grey. _Jake recited the words to the song while looking Hamilton in the eyes_. I could not believe he was looking at me the whole time. I was even more confused by everything. Was it possible he liked me in return?

That answer came with the school's dance. I didn't have a date and neither did Jake, so we were going to go together and hang out, but then Lena asked me to be her date. _Jake walks up on Lena and I talking about the dance. _ When Jake found out he played it cool but I could tell he was hurt. At the dance I saw Jake across the room, but so did Lena. _Lena told me that she could tell they were both in love with each other and that I just needed to go for it_. After being pissed at her for saying those things out loud I decided that maybe she was right I just needed to go for it.

I went to tell him how I felt but I chickened out. Jake walked away looking depressed; he was headed for the bathroom. I decided that if I didn't do this now I would never do it so I went after him. _I checks all the stalls in the bathroom then kisses Jake_. I kissed him. I poured all my feelings into that kiss. That was the best kiss I had ever had.

Then Jake told me something that changed my life. Jake told me that he was really a girl and that we were not gay. **What**? I could not take it, so I ran away.

All night I could not stop thinking about Jake, about all the time we spent together, and I started to see the little things that should've tipped me off that she was a girl. I guess I was blinded by my fear that I was gay. I decided right there and then that I had to have this girl in my life.

The next morning it was Saturday so I didn't have to worry about missing classes or anything, and I headed for Jake's room. I had a plan but I forgot it the moment that I saw her. I don't remember exactly what I said to her but I do remember how it felt to have those lips on mine once again. I never wanted to stop kissing her. I knew at that moment that this was the girl I would marry.

I know… So if that all happened and I found the love of my life then why am I not with her right now? Well... that is another long story. The short version is that at the end of summer session Jake and I were getting ready to take a shower together when Finn walked into the bathroom and caught us. Jake freaked and took off running. I got dressed and took off after her. Finn was so confused by the whole thing he didn't know what was going on.

When I caught up with Jake she was on her way out of town with Bella, her friend from New Rawley. I jumped in and we were off after picking up Will, who was shocked by the fact that Jake was a girl; Bella had guessed that a long time before.

We started a trip to try to save Bella's family's gas station and home from being sold at auction. Bella's mom owned both the home and gas station and when she took off with another guy, Bella was little, she never sign over the property to Charlie, Bella's Dad. Somewhere along the trip we crashed the car, and then Scout and Bella's boyfriend Sean showed up. Now with everyone knowing the truth about Jake they had lots of questions that we were not ready to answer.

The trip didn't end as Bella had hoped. Her mom was being a bitch and would not sign over the gas station to her dad. Jake's bike had been broken when we took off on the trip but was now fixed when we got back. She had to get home before her mom freaked out.

The plan was that I was going to go visit her for a few weeks of the break between summer session and fall session, because Jake's mom wasn't going to be home. The problem was that Jake's mom didn't end up leaving as planned. She got this really good job in London and decided that instead of just living in a hotel she would move there and take Jake with her. Jake didn't want to go but she had no choice.

Jake and I had a long distance relationship for a year or so. I was totally in love with her - still am - but it was hard being apart, so we decided that it was probably for the best if we saw other people.

That is how I came to be dating Amber. She is only the second person that I have dated since I broke up with Jake. I have met so many women in my line of work but none of them could hold a candle to Jake. There is a part of me that says that she is my soul mate and we will find each other again. At the same time there is a part of me that tells me I just need to move on with my life and forget about Jake.

I still talk to Jake every once in a while. We stayed friends even after we broke up. I haven't heard from her in a few months so I don't know if she is seeing anyone or not. We have always been pretty open in talking about the other people we are dating. She knows that I still love her and I know that she still loves me.

I think it is time that I give her a call again. She still lives in London so I will have to wait till tonight so I won't call while she is still at work. I am living right now in Kansas but I'm not planning on staying here much longer. I just finished a job for the National Geo. Who knows where my next job will be? Maybe I should take a break from work and go visit Jake? I have not seen her in a while, and man, I miss her a lot.

**A/N: What do you think? There is more to come, and I welcome all comments.**


	2. The Phone Call

"This better be important if you and calling me at 6 am on my day off

**Disclaimer: I don't own any part of **_**Young Americans**_**. **

**Note to readers: Sorry it took me so long to get to chapter up loaded. I have had it finished some nearly a month, I just have been busy at work and not had a chance to sit down and clean it up after it was beta read. I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think. There is more to come once I figure out how to start the next chapter. **

"This better be important, to be calling me at six in the morning on my day off!" Jake said into the phone while giving the clock a dirty look.

"So the workaholic finally took a day off?" A big smile broke across Hamilton's face at the sound of Jakes' voice.

"Hamilton, is that you?" Jake sits up in bed. It had been months since she had talked to her old friend.

"Who else would it be?" Hamilton's smile just kept getting bigger, "how have you been, Jake? Are you really taking the day off? Are you sick or something?"

"Well actually I have my own business now; I work when I want to. I got tired of working for someone else all the time." Jake couldn't help smiling every time she even thought about Hamilton, let alone talked to him. "I'm even better now that I'm talking to you. How are you doing Ham? How is… what was her name, Amber?"

"Amber is gone; she left me because I wouldn't stop working. No big lose, though. I can't even remember why we were dating in the first place."

"I think I remember you saying you were horny one night and she just happened to be there," Jake laughed. She never really liked hearing about who Hamilton was dating, even thought they were still friends. She still loved him, and it was bad enough that they were half a world away from each other; she didn't need the added misery of hearing him talk about his girlfriends, too.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Well, you know, if you were here, I would never have been with Amber." Hamilton waited for Jake to start arguing about how it was for the best, that they were not together, like she always did when he told her that but when it never came he started to hope that they still might have a chance for a future together. "So, are you seeing anyone right now?"

"No, I'm single. I can't seem to get over this one guy. He was the love of my life and I just let him go. I can't remember why, but I did." Jake said jokingly. It was completely true; she just was hoping the Hamilton would think she was only joking.

Hamilton was shock, have Jake just told him he had been the love of her life. She was doing it again, trying to cover up the truth by joking about it. "I really miss you Jacqueline. You know, I never stopped loving you, nor will I ever stop." He gave up trying to tell himself that he didn't love Jake or that she was the love of his life.

Jake loved the way that Hamilton said her full name. It always sounded so right coming from him. "I love you too Hamilton. I just wish that we lived closer together. Where are you living this month?"

"In Kansas, I just finished my project so I'll be moving soon. I was thinking; it might be time to take a break from work and maybe visit you in London. What do you think?" They had not seen each other in two years, and that had only been for a weekend. They met in New York as Jake came to the USA to support her mother.

"I'd love that. One of the perks of having my own business is that you can set your own schedule; we could really spend time together unlike last time. What do you think about checking out the Tower of London?"

"I always wanted to check the Tower of London out. Maybe we can see some of the old castles as well. I wonder if I can find a job over there. That way I would be able to stay for a while."

"If you want to work you can, but you are always welcome to just come stay with me and hang out. I will not make you pay rent and you don't always have to work, you know." Hamilton was always joking that she was the workaholic, when really he was the workaholic of the two.

"I'll talk to my boss; see what I can find out." Hamilton was excited just thinking about seeing Jake again. Every time they talked, it was like falling in love with her all over again. Maybe it was time to give up his loner ways and settle down. He had never wanted to give up everything just to be with someone before, but with Jake it just felt right.

"How is work going? Are you still doing all those jobs for the National Geographic's'?" Jake was a big fan of Hamilton's work, and has been the one who talked him in to applying for the job in the first place. He had had extraordinary talent in photography, so she knew he would get the job, furthermore he would get to see the world. It was good for their friendship too, because whenever he was in Europe they would met to spend time together even, if only for the weekend. Over the last few years he had mainly been in the United State working on projects.

"I just finished a big project on the farmlands of America. It was a good project to work on, because I got to go to almost every state, and see the kind of farming going on. I stayed in a lot of small towns."

"That sounds like a good project, so why do you sound so down?" Jake could tell that something was bothering him. He had always been an open book with his emotions.

"I guess I have been thinking a lot about the future, do I really want to do this for the rest of my life." Hamilton knew Jake would pick up on him being unhappy; even before they had dated they shared a connection, unlike anything either had experienced before.

"I understand thinking about the future; I have been doing that a lot myself lately." Mainly thinking about a future with Hamilton, but he didn't need to know that. "I guess that is one reason I started my own business. That way I have more control of my future."

"So explain what sore of business you stated; I thought you mainly debugged programs, before they hit the market."

"That is exactly what I do. Before, I was working for just one software company, now I'm all freelancing. I made the change a month ago and I already have three smaller software companies that I'm debugging for. Hiring people outside of the company is easier for most companies, because they don't have to worry about all the normal benefits; like insurance, pension, and sick days. The best part is that I can work from home."

"Sounds good to me, I wish that I could have a job where I would get paid to lay around all day, playing with computers," Hamilton said laughing.

"I guess there are not many jobs that let their camera man just sit around taking pictures of whatever walks through his bedroom." Jake joined in the laugher "didn't you tell me that you saved enough money to live off for at least 10 years?"

"Yeah, that is one nice thing about my job. I get paid to work, plus I get free housing, and food. So yeah, I could probably live off my savings for at least 10 years, if not more." Hamilton knew what he wanted to ask Jake, but didn't know if he was ready for the answer. In the end, he decided that he could wait until see her to talk to her about his idea for the future. He had been thinking a lot about marriage, coming to the conclusion that the only person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with is Jake.

"Well it is late here, so I'm going to call it a night. I hate this time difference. I was hoping that I would catch you when you finished work, not at six in the morning," Hamilton yawned. He really hated to end this conversation, but he needed sleep. Tomorrow he would start to plan his trip to London, well mainly he needed to plan on how to show Jake how much he loved her and wanted to be with her. "Have a good day off. I love and miss you Jake."

"I guess I will let you get some sleep, even though you woke me up so early," Jake smiled. She loved to pick on him. "Have a good night. And don't worry about what time it is here, if you feel like calling please do. I would rather talk to you then sleep."

Hamilton started laughing. He knew Jake was telling the truth but he also knew that she was not a morning person. When they got off the phone she would probably go back to bed for a few more hours, before she finally got up. She would make coffee, and start working on whatever new program she had. There was no way that she would take the whole day off from work.

"I love you Hamilton, and miss you so much. I can't wait to see you again. Let me know when you will be coming my way, there are so many things to show you and tell you." Did she just say that out loud? Oh well. Even if she did, she had wanted to see him for a long time now. She planned to tell him that she didn't want to be apart anymore. It didn't matter what she had to do, but she would do anything, just to be with him. "Good night Hamilton."

"Good night Jake." With that, he put the phone down and went to take a cold shower. No matter what the distance, she still had the same effect on him. He loved her with all his being. They were meant to be together, and they would be together no matter what he had to do.

Jake listened to the dial tone for a few moments, before she put down the phone. She lay back down and thought about the only man she had ever loved. No matter what distance she still got butterflies in her stomach when she talked to him.

She was tried, and had planned to sleep in, even though there was work that could and should be done. She closed her eyes and with images of Hamilton running through her head she drifted off to sleep.


End file.
